Mafia Heat
by KonohasBlackReaper
Summary: There is a murder in Manhattan. Castle and the gang finds themselves involved in the underbelly of the Mob world. One of the victims is of Italian descent and before they know it, F.B.I and the Vongola Guardians are involved. Yamato finds himself dispatched to get to the bottom of the matter. Can the killers remain unscathed with both the Law and the Mafia out to find them?
1. Chapter 1

**I had started this story quite a while ago but had not gone beyond a few hundred words. With my muse for my other stories on a little vacation, I found myself flocking to this little fic.**

**So, here I am, trying my hand at a KHR and Castle crossover. This is set somewhere in season 4 of castle and a couple of years after KHR ended. Except, there is no Neo Vongola crap. It's the proper Vongola and the Tenth generation.**

**So, well enjoy.**

**And review. Don't forget that.**

* * *

**Mafia Heat: 1**

The hotel was one of the foremost hotels of New York. So, it was always full of people moving around. The only difference this time was that most people were either in navy blue uniforms or wore blue wind cheaters with the word FORENSICS on their backs. Hence, the man wearing a thousand dollar suit, who would have been at home in the lobby any other day, looked out of place in the crowd. Rick castle made his way to the elevators with a cheerful grin and pressed the relevant button for the elevator to take him to the crime scene.

In the penthouse suite, Detective Kate Beckett was leaning over a body when the smell of coffee filled her nose. She smiled. It seemed her 'partner' had arrived. She suppressed her smile and returned her face into her normal face when she dealt with Castle- mildly disapproving with a hint of amusement. She accepted the cup of coffee that had been held out to her.

"Morning, Castle." She greeted.

"Certainly is a good morning, Beckett. Nothing like a mystery to start a new day." Castle grinned at her as he surveyed the crime scene. "So, what do we have here?" he asked.

"Oh you're going to love this one, Castle." a blonde man in a grey suit walked towards them.

"Hey Ryan!" Rick greeted his friend. "What do you mean I'm gonna love this case?" Det. Beckett rolled her eyes as Ryan told Castle what they had managed to piece together.

"The hotel manager told us that this suite was booked under the name of a Michael Valmer. Last night at nine, three men showed up and asked for the room. One of them was Vincent Rossi. The other two were probably his bodyguards. " Ryan began reading from his notebook. He had just mentioned the name when Castle interrupted incredulously.

"Vincent Rossi as in Vincent Rossi, the son of Benito Rossi, the head of the Rossi mob family?"

Ryan grinned and nodded.

"Told you that you were going to love this one, bro."

"Is he one of the victims?" Castle asked as he peered towards the area of the room where a few forensics were standing over another dead body.

"Yeah." Beckett sighed as she nodded towards a third body that was in an overturned easy-chair, partially hidden from view. Only a pair of expensive leather shoes were visible to the trio.

"Anyways," Ryan continued, "as I was saying, Vincent Rossi and his guards went up to the suite and left instructions at the front desk to inform them when someone came for the room. At nine thirty, another guy came and asked for the suite, so the witness on the front desk sent word up to Rossi. Now this is where it gets a little weird. Rossi himself came down to escort the guy upstairs, and according to the witness, he was in some serious ass-kissing mode." Ryan paused and looked at Beckett and Castle. Beckett frowned at this information. She didn't know as much about the mob as the Organized Crime unit, but she had heard that Vincent Rossi was a typical spoilt second generation Mob brat. Too much swagger and too much violence. Not a guy who would kiss anyone's ass. This meant the guy that came had to be a big shot. Castle voiced her thoughts to the room.

"I know bro, I thought so too. So, I checked out the guy." Ryan spoke as he gestured them to follow him. They made their way to the body, next to the mini bar counter, where the forensics were wrapping up. "Give us a minute, guys." He spoke to the forensics and they nodded and moved away.

Castle looked at the body of the man lying on the carpet. It was obvious that he had died of the bullet wounds right over his heart and his head. Other than that, the guy was as ordinary as they came. He didn't even look rich. All his clothes were normal. Not shabby, but not swanky either. Vincent Rossi's shoes probably cost more than this man's complete outfit. Certainly not like a big shot.

"Weird, right?" Ryan asked them as they looked the body over.

"He certainly doesn't look like the man I had imagined him in my mind." Castle offered. "I had thought customized suit, shoes, Rolex and an overall impressive face. This guy wouldn't look out of place in a subway during rush hour."

Beckett agreed with her partner's assessment. She, however had more questions for Ryan.

"Who is he?" She asked.

Ryan consulted his notebook and answered.

"Found his passport on him. According to the ID, our guy is Carlo Messi, Italian citizen."

Beckett groaned. A foreign national. Great. Extra red tape.

Castle on the other hand, was visibly excited.

"Italian. That's so cool. And, he was meeting the Mob. Maybe he is from a Sicilian Mafia." He spoke gleefully. "Oh my God, this case keeps getting better and better."

Beckett and Ryan shared a look. Ryan smiled and said to Beckett.

"You want to tell him, or should I?"

" Tell me what?" Castle asked as he turned towards his friends.

"It's not going to be like what you're thinking, Castle." Beckett began. She gestured to the bodies as she continued in her slow style she used to explain things to Castle. "Just the fact that Rossi is one of the victims, is going to get the FBI involved. They will waltz in and try to run the show. There will be jurisdictional problems, egos will clash. Then add to it that a foreign national was killed. His government will want to be kept in the loop, not to mention it's going to multiply the red tape and paperwork by three times."

Castle stood silently for a few moments as he digested this piece of information. Then in authentic Castle style he started questioning everything.

"The last time we worked with the FBI, we didn't have these kind of problems. Agent Shaw and our team got along fine." He complained.

Beckett rolled her eyes at Castle's selective memory. It might have worked out in the end, but it had not been all rainbows and sunshine.

"That was because Captain Montgomery handled all that stuff. He was on good terms with Agent Shaw's boss. Gates, on the other hand, is not as liked as him. She is ambitious, so she is likely to want the credit, which Montgomery had no interest in." She countered Castle's arguments. "Trust me, Castle."

All three stood and contemplated what they had just discussed when the fourth member of their team arrived with the Medical Examiner.

"Hey bro!" Esposito greeted Castle. "You're going to love this one."

"Already said that." Ryan grinned at his partner.

Castle returned the greeting and turned to Lanie with a smile and nodded at her too.

"So, what does our beautiful ME have for us?" He wagged his eyebrows at the woman.

"Charming as always, I see, Castle." Lanie shook her head but smiled at the writer. "Cause of death for all of them were multiple GSWs." She pointed to the body at their feet.

"These guys were all blackjacked." Esposito said as he pointed to the pattern of the gunshots on the dead man. Castle made a questioning face, so Esposito explained, "Military nickname for triple tapped. One bullet each to the heart, sternum and the head."

Castle made a funny face, to which Esposito shrugged. "I don't make the nicknames, bro."

"It's a professional hit." Beckett nodded in understanding. Esposito nodded.

"Not only that, the guy is pretty good. From the way the bodies are situated, it was over within ten seconds." He added.

This announcement was met with silent nods of agreement. Esposito looked a little disturbed as he looked around the room, calculating something.

"Something on your mind, Espo?" Beckett asked him. Esposito looked at her with a grim expression.

"I take it back. The guy isn't good, he is beyond good." He waved his hand towards the entire room.

"Why, bro?" Ryan asked as he looked around the room, following Esposito's hand.

Esposito chewed his lip as he moved to stand next to them, so that Ryan and Lanie were on his left side and Beckett and Castle were on his right. Then he gestured them to follow him. The group went to the front door of the room.

"He entered through here, right?" He said as he raised his arms parallel to the ground, pointing in the forward direction, forming guns with his two fingers. "Since all the bodies are over there, he obviously entered without any of them opening the door to him."

"He had a key." Castle said as he glanced towards Kate. She nodded and said, "We'll have to get a list of all the people who have keys for the suite." She then nodded to Esposito to continue.

"The first to get hit was Rossi." Esposito said as he made as to shoot using his finger 'guns'.

"Why Rossi?" Beckett asked.

"Notice how he is still in his chair, overturned, but perfectly in the sitting position? If someone else had been shot first, Rossi wouldn't have been sitting in his chair, waiting for his turn. He would have lunged for cover. It's an instinct, you see someone get shot, you run for cover. Another thing, notice his bodyguards. One guy was on his knees, trying to duck behind the sofa when he took one to the head. The second one of his body guards had his gun out. He was probably the last, if he had the time to draw his weapon. Our big shot was most probably the second, as standing from here, his position was most exposed after Rossi. Their reaction time was very less. I estimate 5 seconds tops."

The others took this information in. Castle spoke, "In your opinion, all this happened within 5 seconds?"

Esposito nodded.

Castle whistled.

"Once every one was down, our boy made his way to each one and blackjacked them." He let his arms down back to his side.

"Meaning that our killer could have spent less than a minute in this room." Beckett sighed. "If he was aware of the meeting beforehand and the suite number, he would have been in and out of this Hotel within minutes."

"That means he probably wouldn't be remembered by any of the staff." Esposito added.

Ryan took out his phone and said, "I'll call my old friends in the OCU and get some info on who would want Rossi whacked." He moved away from the group, dialing on his phone.

Castle turned to Beckett and asked, "Isn't there a camera right at the entrance and exit?"

"Yeah, so?" Beckett asked.

"So, if our guy really did come in and go out within minutes, he will stand out in the video, right?" Castle said raising his eyebrows. Beckett looked at the writer.

"It will certainly narrow down the list of people, _if _our guy really did arrive and leave within minutes. He could be a guest in the hotel for all we know."

Esposito shook his head.

"Highly unlikely. This guy is almost certainly from military background, probably special forces, looking from the display of high level of skill." Esposito looked around the room. "It would be stupid to stay where we might want to interview him or get a chance to lift prints."

Beckett sighed. What Esposito was saying made sense. This was why she didn't like professional hits. Usually the killer left town before the police could get any solid leads. Unless some paper trail for the money was found, it was unlikely that the actual killer would be apprehended. The one who paid the killer was usually found out, but rarely, if ever was the killer found. She realized that Ryan had come back and was saying something.

"What? I'm sorry I was thinking."

Ryan nodded and repeated, "I said that this may start a mob war." He pointed towards Rossi's body. "Benito Rossi isn't going to take it lying down."

Castle turned back to the body and said, "You friends think this was done by a rival family?"

"Of course, Castle. Who else would want to take Rossi out? From what I've heard from my old pals in the OCU, the Rossi and the Maleno had a small turf disagreement going on about Maleno selling drugs in Rossi territory." Ryan said.

"That sounds like motive to me." Castle looked at Beckett, who nodded.

"Ok guys, let's head back and set up the murder board. Esposito, you and Ryan check the video from the front camera and then go to OCU, and try to get as much information about the situation with Maleno family. Me and Castle will see you back at the precinct." Beckett nodded to Castle and they headed back.

* * *

Beckett and Castle had just exited the elevators when Captain Gates called out from the door to her office, "Beckett!"

"Go wait in the bull pen, Castle." Beckett told Castle and walked over to Gates' office. She saw that there were two people already inside. A fiftyish man with grey-golden hair, sitting in a chair in front of Gates' desk and a tall dark-haired man, probably thirty five-thirty six, standing near the window, looking outside. Both turned to look at her as she entered with Gates.

"This is Special Agent Artemis Vicco," Gates gestured to the older man, "and Special Agent Robert Lee, of the FBI."

_Already? That was fast. I wasn't expecting them until the evening. _Kate thought.

Both men nodded to her and she nodded back.

"They are here because of the Rossi case." Gates added, unnecessarily, as if the FBI would be here for any other reason.

The tall man, Special Agent Lee, spoke, "I was just saying that the Bureau should take point on this one."

"And I was saying, not gonna happen." Gates cut him short. "This is NYPD's case. We appreciate the bureau stepping up to help, but this is our case and my people will handle it."

"We have been following Vincent Rossi for some time now. We have important information and can act on it without wasting time to brief everyone." S.A Lee countered, his face donning a hard mask.

Gates scoffed and said, "Our own OCU has data on the Rossi, and Detective Beckett has the highest closure rate in the city, _including _the FBI."

Beckett sighed as she thought, _And so, it begins.._

Castle had been waiting in the bull pen and had jotted down a few ideas for a plot involving warring Mafia families. He could still hear Gates' voice as she and the FBI agents tried to establish the hierarchy of the two teams in the case. It finally came to an end without either side giving an inch, but they decided to start working the case. Beckett came out, talking to an old man, followed by a tall man who was talking to Gates.

Becket reached the bull pen and turned to the tall man.

"This is our work area. There is a briefing room that you guys can set up in." Then she held her hand out towards Castle and said, " This is-"

"Richard Castle." S.A Lee cut in as his eyes widened.

"Um- yeah." Beckett said lamely.

Castle looked at the man interestedly. He knew that look. It was the look he saw often at book signings and book releases. The man was a fan. Castle smiled inwardly as he put on his best book signing face and nodded.

"Guilty as charged." He said rakishly. " And you are?"

The man sputtered something. Richard asked politely, " I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?"

"Robert Lee, Mr. Castle." S.A Lee held out his hand, gushing. "I'm a huge fan of your work. I was crestfallen when you killed off Derrick Storm. But Nikki Heat is even better."

Castle grinned as Beckett and Gates looked on, one amused and the other amazed.

"Well, I'm glad you like my work. If you like Nikki heat, I'm sure you would like to know that Detective Beckett here is my inspiration for the her." He nodded towards Kate who suddenly started to go from amused to irritated.

_Great. Now he is going to think I'm slutty like Nikki Heat._

"Detective Beckett?" S.A Lee turned to the woman and looked at her with awe. "I had read your dedication, but I didn't put two and two together." He then said, rather than ask, "KB. Katherine Beckett. Of course. How could I not remember? Agent Shaw told me that she had met you. Is it true that the Special Agent Walle in 'Summer Heat' is based on her?"

"Why, Yes." Castle said to the man and watched as his eyes shined with excitement.

"In fact, you're giving me a good idea for a character I'm trying to think for my next book. I think I'm going to call it 'Mafia Heat'." Castle grinned.

If it was possible, S.A Lee's eyes would have widened further. He tried to process this information as Castle continued, painting a pretty picture of his new possible character.

"Tall, dark but kind. Called in from the FBI to work with Nikki Heat on the string of Mafia murders that are taking place." Beckett glared at Castle, thinking about what the man was trying to do. It became clear as Castle spoke next.

"Initially there was friction between the two, but for the sake of justice, he allows Nikki to take lead, surprised by the ferocity she showed to bring justice to the people who lost their loved ones to the ruthless Mafia. Of course, later he experiences the same ferocity when they have hot passionate se-"

"CASTLE!"

Kate was glaring at him mortified. Beside her was an equally red, but still ecstatic, S.A Lee.

"What?" Castle gave her an innocent look.

"Ahem- I'm flattered, Mr. Castle, but I'm married and my wife would kill me if the character you base on me has- you know- with Nikki Heat. She is also a big fan, but I doubt she will see the fiction apart from reality, especially now that we will be working together." Lee said a little abashedly, avoiding looking at Beckett.

"Oh." Castle mused. "Fine, we can cut the steamy scenes, but I'll keep him giving lead to Nikki. It makes him look good. To think that he would be willing to lay aside his ego to bring justice to the victims, that's the stuff heroes are made of." Castle said smiling. Beckett resisted the urge to slap Castle silly.

"Ah yes, of course." S.A Lee agreed. He then looked at Gates and said, " Perhaps the NYPD can take point this time, seeing as an exceptional Detective will be in charge."

He nodded to his partner, " This is Special Agent Artemis Vicco." The older man nodded to Castle, his face expressionless. S.A Lee shrugged to Castle, "Don't worry, he is like that with everyone. He is a man of few words, but he is the best on Mob related cases."

"I used to be Interpol. Worked in the Organized crime task force." S.A Vicco spoke for the first time. He had a low, firm voice. He turned to S.A Lee. "Should I have the gear set up here?"

"Yes, please." His partner nodded. He turned to Beckett, "Is the crime scene intact?"

Beckett shook her head, "I'm afraid not. We removed the bodies, but left everything else sealed. Our M.E will call us as soon as she finds something."

Lee nodded. "We'll be ready in half an hour to brief everyone. Call in your team."

Beckett nodded as she moved away to call Ryan and Esposito. She told them that they didn't need to go to OCU anymore and they should return as soon as possible.

"Beckett, a word." Gates called as Beckett moved to her white board.

"Yes, sir?"

"This is an important case. Close it nice and good and this will become a good springboard for our careers . This might be the one that brings you in consideration for Lieutenant." Gates looked at her pointedly.

"I understand, sir. We'll do our best." Kate said, hiding a smile. She had known that Gates would look at this case to fuel her own political ambitions. _Well, at least she isn't going to claim it all for herself, if she is willing to share it with me._ Gates nodded and walked off.

"What was that about?" Castle asked Beckett.

"Just like I told you Castle, Gates is looking for a gold star on her record. She told me she'd recommend me for Lieutenant if we close this one."

"Ooh Lieutenant Beckett. Sounds nice." Castle grinned.

"Yeah, the pay bump will be nice, seeing that I do half of the Lt.'s duties already." Kate sat down at her seat.

"You do? How come?" Rick asked, curious.

"We had a Lt. up to four months before you came, Castle. Do you remember the big debate on cutting back on non-necessary posts in government offices?" Beckett asked the writer.

"Yeah?"

"Well after Lt. Saunders retired, Montgomery was asked if he needed a Lieutenant. He discussed this with us and we decided that we didn't. So, Captain and I divided the work between us." Kate turned in her chair to pick up the files and place them in her drawer, getting ready for all the new paperwork the case was going to bring.

"But, if you make Lieutenant, wouldn't you have to leave the precinct? But I like it here." Castle said like a boy being sent to a boarding school against his wishes. Beckett smiled and said, "Well, you could always get the Mayor to recreate the position here in the precinct."

Castle brightened up at that. "Hey! Not a bad idea. Let me call him."

"Sit down Castle, all of this hasn't happened yet. Even if Gates does recommend me, there are many other distinguished officers with seniority."

"But if I drop a word-"

"NO, Castle." Kate looked Castle in the eyes. "I won't have you using your contacts to give me an unfair advantage over others."

"Fine. It was just a thought." Castle raised his hands in surrender.

They sat discussing for a while until Ryan and Esposito arrived. Kate took them to the FBI team to make introductions.

After the introductions were complete, Beckett asked Ryan.

"So, any luck on the video?"

"No. The front camera along with the cameras leading to the suite were 'malfunctioning'." Ryan air quoted.

"What about the Key?"

"Easily duplicated if you know what you're doing and can get your hands on an original." Esposito said, glancing at his notebook. "And according to the shift manager, a maid couldn't find her key yesterday but later found it in her bag. And dig this, the cameras in the staff area were malfunctioning yesterday as well."

S.A Lee nodded. "The hotel uses wireless cameras that are connected with a WPA-sk protected network. Difficult, but not impossible to break into. Also, the guy could have been just jamming the wireless spectrum." He turned to Esposito, "Ask the staff if there was trouble with cell phone reception yesterday in the hotel."

Esposito nodded and moved away to make a phone call.

"What about Benito Rossi? When do we head out to meet him?" Ryan asked.

S.A Lee shook his head. "We talked to the Rossi household. The old man has been sedated after he had a small heart attack on hearing about is son. The doctor said he'll let us know when we can talk to him."

"Is this a Data Matrix analyzer?"

Everybody turned to see Castle looking at the large screen that the FBI team had set up. Beckett glared at Castle as he asked, "What?"

"Ahem, actually yes, Mr. Castle. It helps us find relevant information that we might miss otherwise. How did you know?" S.A Lee said surprised.

"Agent Shaw had one of these as well." Castle grinned.

"Oh, you'll find that this one is better, Mr. Castle." Lee pointed to the wires leading to an open suitcase that had a kind odd small antenna thingy. "We are directly connected to the FBI's central database, and hence this set up is much faster."

"Oooh nice. " Castle said as he took out his notebook and started scribbling.

Beckett smiled at her partner's excitement.

"So, anyways." She said. "Let's begin."

* * *

In Italy, in its southern countryside, stood a big castle like mansion. The mansion was very impressive, fit to be the home of a king. There were many armed men in suits patrolling the grounds. All of them stopped to salute or bow to a young man making his way inside. He responded good naturedly to all greetings. He slowly moved inside the castle and went to the second floor where his friend's office was situated. He nodded to the five men sitting in the small waiting room outside the main office. He smiled at the scene. It was not like the man inside needed any guards, but his subordinate didn't listen to his meek declarations that guards were not necessary. The self-proclaimed right hand man had bulldozed over this and had argued that he was the Jyudaime, and the boss, it was a custom that he should have the best guards. His friend had finally agreed.

He pushed open the doors to walk inside. Immediately he noticed that something was amiss. His usually happy and smiling friend had a sad and angry expression on his face. The silver haired man also didn't comment on his arrival, no insults for being late. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that all the other guardians were present as well, including the ex-disciplinary in charge and the ex-vindice convict.

"What happened, Tsuna?" he asked.

"Our emissary to the Rossi family in the US, Carlo Messi, was killed." Gokudera said quietly.

"That nice guy? I didn't know he was going on missions."

"It was his first." Tsuna said softly.

"The Rossi killed him? Are they mad? Weren't they the ones who wanted to join the Alliance?" Yamamoto asked, looking around.

"We do not know as of yet. That is why I have called you." Tsuna looked at his friend. " I want you to go to the United States and investigate." Tsuna leaned back into his chair. He looked very scary as he turned to look down at the small group photograph of his subordinates in the file Gokudera had given him. He had taken one with different groups that worked in the castle until he had covered all of them when he had officially taken control from Nono. He sat in the middle with Nono, flanked by his guardians on his side and his predecessor's on the other side. All his men standing behind them. His glance fell on an ordinary looking man smiling in the third row. Now this man was dead, killed.

"Find out who killed him and why." Tsuna ordered his rain guardian.

"And after that?" Yamamoto answered. All of them had been forced to grow up from the naïve children they were after five Families in the council had formed an alliance and tried to take down the Mafia council a week after Tsuna had taken over. It had been a bloody war, where they had lost many of their own. Tsuna had held back from taking lives until the enemy had attacked a safe house of his father's and CEDEF had fallen, with the enemy taking the girls hostage. Tsuna had flown to the place on hearing the news. By the time Yamamoto and the other guardians had reached the site, Tsuna had crushed his heart in order to save them. They had arrived to witness a scene that broke their hearts. Amongst hundreds of bodies, Tsuna kneeling and wailing to the heavens, covered in blood, in Kyoko's arms as she tried to console him.

That day, Tsuna had added his own sins to the Trial of the Vongola Bosses. In the end, only Basil, Oregano and Lal mirch had managed to survive. Tsuna's father had lost an eye, but survived. Even the Varia had been silent at the scene.

"The Varia will deal with them." Tsuna said shortly.

Yamamoto nodded and said smiling, "I'll need someone else with me. I'll get tired searching such a large place alone. I'll get bored."

This brought a small smile to Tsuna's face. He sighed, trust Yamamoto to lighten up the situation. Just because he was sad didn't mean he should wallow in it. He turned to Yamamoto with a glint in his eyes as he said, "Fine. Hibari-san will go with you."

The Japanese Skylark glared at the brunette and he hurriedly added, "Hibari-san doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to."

Yamamoto protested.

Tsuna looked at his friend and knew he was cornered. He never could refuse his friends. "Fine, You can take Chrome."

Again the Japanese Skylark glared at his 'Boss'. If he thought he was sending Chrome with the herbivore alone, he was mistaken.

"Perhaps then I will go with my darling Chrome, Fu fu fu." Mukuro said as Hibari glared at him too. Mukuro just laughed at the Cloud guardian's anger.

"No. I will go with her." Hibari said, leaving no room for argument.

He turned to look at Yamamoto, "If you get in my way, I'll bite you to death." He nodded to chrome to follow him.

"Goodbye, boss." Chrome bowed to Tsuna and followed Hibari.

Yamamoto smiled and said, "I wonder why he doesn't just say it out loud. Everyone knows."

"Because it isn't Hibari-san's style." Tsuna said. "Besides, Chrome understands."

Yamamoto gave Tsuna a shrewd look, "You knew that if you sent Chrome, Hibari would go too."

Tsuna smiled and leaned back into his chair as he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yamamoto continued to look at Tsuna, his lips twitching. Finally Tsuna shrugged and said.

" Hibari-san is the best in information gathering. But I can't send him alone as he would create incidents with the locals."

"So use me as a scapegoat?" Yamamoto smirked. "Well anyways, I'm off as well. I'm taking the jet."

"Yamamoto."

Yamamoto turned to look Tsuna had gone serious again.

"Please try hard. For Carlo-kun."

Yamamoto nodded and he waved his hand as he left.

* * *

**There we go...**

**Anyways, updates might be a bit random. This isn't my primary focus right now. I'm trying to get my brain to start on Twist Of Fate again.**

**If you liked it, drop me a line. :-D**


	2. Chapter 2

**I find writing this story really refreshing and fun. So, here is the next chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you guys have fun reading it.**

**Review if you like it.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"So, What do you have for us, Lanie?" Kate asked her friend.

Lanie had come to the precinct with the report, the next day.

"Cause of death pretty straight forward. Multiple GSWs to vital points. No fingerprints or DNA evidence on the bodies. Something weird with the foreigner though." Lanie opened the file to show some photographs. She laid them down on the table.

"Wow." Castle exclaimed as Esposito whistled. Beckett's eyebrows rose and Lee frowned.

The photographs were of the man's torso. It was like the body was chiseled from stone. The guy was totally buff. Toned muscles spread over his body. It was not swollen like a bodybuilder's but lean like a Martial artist's, and all of it was covered in scars. Some faded, many comparatively new.

"Look here." Lanie pointed to a part of the body. "These three are old bullet wounds. I'd say sometime within the last few years. I don't know how he survived. These should have gone clean through his liver. I checked, there is a minor scarring on the liver itself, and that part is useless, but the rest was pretty healthy and working just fine. I didn't even know that was possible."

All the others were still looking at the many scars on the man.

"His hands had callouses on them. He was used to handling weapons." Lanie continued.

"Did we find any weapons on the crime scene?" Lee asked.

"Not on him or in his luggage." Esposito said. "The bodyguards were carrying handguns."

All of them looked at the victims face, staring back at them from the whiteboard.

"Who the hell is he?" Beckett asked.

"Not an office worker, that's for sure." Castle managed to look away from the scars for a few moments.

"What about his luggage? Anything in it to give us an idea about his life?" Castle asked.

"After a preliminary search showed nothing of interest, his stuff was taken by the Italian embassy." Ryan told Castle.

"Can we get it back?"

Beckett shook her head. "Not without a good reason, Castle."

The phone rang. Beckett picked it up.

"Detective Beckett, NYPD. ….. Yes….. Thank you, we'll head out right now."

"That was from Rossi's doctor." Kate looked at the others. "He's up and wants to meet us"

* * *

Castle, Det. Beckett and S.A Lee stood as they waited to be let inside the Mob boss' wing. A large man opened the door and glanced at the man who had let them inside the mansion. He nodded and opened the door wide. The three walked into a room that was full of people wearing suits and looking very much like mobsters. S.A Lee could easily put names to more than half the faces present. Many had guns in their hands. Beckett would have liked to ask if they had licenses, but she knew that she was in the lion's den. A lion that had lost his heir. He would not be beyond having them all killed right here, right now. She noticed that many of the men were fidgety. This was all she could observe as the large man let them into another door.

They entered into a large bedroom. There was a large four poster bed against the far wall, surrounded by many medical equipment. A nurse and a doctor sat on the sofa near the bed. On the bed lay the man they had come to meet- Benito Rossi.

Benito Rossi was an old man with a balding head, with some silver hair near his ears and the back of his head. He had an old Italian style full moustache. He had an IV on his arm.

The large man went up to his boss and whispered into his ear. Benito Rossi opened his eyes. The eyes, unlike the rest of his body, were not old and frail. The eyes radiated the power with which Benito Rossi had created the strongest Mob family in the US. He nodded. The large man turned to them and motioned them to come closer. The doctor and nurse vacated the sofa to allow the Law officials (and writer) to sit near their patient so that he wouldn't have to strain himself.

"Mr. Rossi." Beckett nodded. "Sorry for your loss."

Benito Rossi accepted the formality with a nod.

"We have a few questions-" Lee began but Rossi interrupted him.

"Tell me what happened." He said in a weak voice.

"Excuse me?" Lee said.

"I don't know what happened. All they told me is that the Maleno got Vincent." He rasped. "Every time I ask, they just mumble that the doctor says not to tell me. The shock will be bad for me, he says." Rossi coughed. "Like there can be a bigger shock than knowing your son has been murdered."

The three looked at each other. Beckett said slowly, "Mr. Rossi, if your doctor thinks-"

Rossi waved Beckett's words aside. "Nonsense." He coughed. "If my doctors were right every time, I should have died years ago when the Silveno shot me through my lungs, the cowards." He took a deep breath. "The not knowing will kill me before anything else."

Beckett gave in.

"We received a call yesterday morning from the Plaza hotel staff saying that the maid had found bodies in their suite. We arrived to find four bodies, all with gunshot wounds. Your son was one of them."

Rossi closed his eyes. Beckett looked at the man.

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Rossi, we believe that he was shot first. He wouldn't even have known what was happening. He died instantly." Beckett offered.

Rossi still had his eyes closed. "It doesn't really matter, detective. What matters is that Vincent is dead."

He opened his eyes. There was rage in them. "What matters, detective, is that the men who killed my son are sitting somewhere, celebrating."

"They will be brought to justice, Mr. Rossi, I assure you." Beckett looked at the old man.

"That they will, detective, _I assure you._" The man replied softly.

The Mob boss and Beckett entered a staring match. Castle was watching amused, but S.A Lee had enough. He cleared his throat. Both Beckett and Rossi turned to him.

"We have some questions, Mr. Rossi, which may help us in this investigation." Lee took out his notebook.

"Ask." Rossi leaned back into his pillows.

"What was your son doing in the hotel suite?"

"He had gone to receive a guest."

Beckett looked at Lee and asked, "This guest. Was his name Carlo Messi?"

Rossi frowned. "I do not know."

"Mr. Rossi, we understand that you may not want to name names or mention the exact nature of this meeting, but we need to know in order to solve the murder of your son." Lee sighed.

"What is there to solve?" Rossi growled in a low voice. "I know who was behind it, you know who was behind it."

Beckett shook her head. "We do not have any proof to link the Maleno family to this murder, Mr. Rossi."

"Just like you did not have any proof of the many murders you believe to be done by me or on my orders." Rossi snapped. "I do not expect you to do anything. I agreed to talk to you because I just wanted to know what happened, as my men weren't saying anything. You'd think that they'd do what their boss tells them." His eyes softened a little. "But they can be stubborn as mules, sometimes."

Rossi sighed. "I do not know the name. All I know is that I was to arrange for the stay. So, I called the Plaza, got a suite, under the name of one of my people. I did not even know how many were coming." He coughed. He looked at Beckett suspiciously. "This man, Carlo Messi. Is he the one who came?"

"Yes." Lee opened the file in his hands and took out the photograph. Before he handed Rossi the photo, he asked.

"From where was this man coming?"

"Italy." Rossi replied. Lee nodded and passed the old man the photograph.

"Do you recognize him, Mr. Rossi?" Castle asked. Rossi shook his head.

"No." He frowned. "I was expecting someone a bit more, what is the word?"

"Distinctive?" Castle offered.

Rossi nodded. "Yes." He looked at the photograph again. "He looks like my accountant."

Rossi looked up at Lee. "Where is he? I must talk to him, apologize for any inconvenience he may have undergone because of you people."

Lee, Castle and Beckett exchanged glances. Beckett leaned a little forward and said softly, so as to not give the sick man another shock.

"I am afraid I must tell you that Mr. Messi was also one of the victims. He was killed along with your son in the suite."

Rossi looked very shocked. Beckett looked around for the doctor and waved at him to come.

Castle looked thoughtful as the doctor took Rossi's pulse and retreated as Rossi leaned back, he assured Beckett that the man was fine, just shaken up.

"Is it possible that the main target was Mr. Messi and that your son was just collateral damage?" Castle asked Rossi. This seemed to bring Rossi out of the daze. He looked at Castle for e few seconds. Then his face scrunched up for a second before he started to laugh. All three looked at each other and at Rossi. Soon, Rossi stopped laughing and looked at Castle.

"No, boy. No one has the balls to do that." Beckett was about to ask what he meant when he continued. "It looks like I won't have to do anything to the Maleno after all."

He looked at the curious faces of his visitors. "There will be nothing left of the Maleno when _they _are through with them."

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked, her eyes narrowed. "Who are '_They'_?" She didn't like the sound of this.

Rossi just closed his eyes and said, "I am tired. Please leave."

"Who are you talking about? Tell us, Mr. Rossi?" Beckett persisted. But then the large man returned and they had to leave.

Outside, in the black SUV that the FBI had brought with them, Castle looked at Beckett.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, Castle, but I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

The private jet came to a stop near the SUVs. The door opened an a scary looking man exited. He was followed by a girl with an eye patch, a carefree looking man and another man who had a weird hairstyle.

"Say, Kusakabe-san. Are you going with Hibari-san?" Yamamoto asked, even though he knew the answer. Even in the future, Kusakabe had always been with the Japanese Skylark, like his faithful shadow. "Or is he going to ditch you in favor of Chrome-chan?"

Chrome turned a little pink at this. As Hibari opened the door of an SUV, he said, without turning back. "You're making me wait, Kusakabe. I'll bite you to death."

Kusakabe smiled and jumped down the ramp. "Forgive me, Hibari-san."

The two men got into the SUV and it took off. Yamamoto looked at Chrome and smiled. Chrome smiled back and said, "That's the way he is."

"Maa Maa, Chrome-chan. As long as you are okay with it." Yamamoto reached the other SUV and opened the door for Chrome. He held it as she got in, and he followed her inside.

"Let's begin." He said, turning serious.

* * *

"Come on, Alexis. How long has it been since you and Ashley broke up?" Elizabeth took her coffee from the red head standing beside her at the kiosk. They had been shopping when Lisa had asked her to a party so that she could meet new guys and the red head had declined, citing vague reasons. They had been talking about it ever since. Now they were going to Alexis' home and had stopped to get some coffee.

"I don't think I'm ready for some new boy right now, Liz" Alexis made a face at her friend.

"Not even a really hot one?" Liz asked, mischievously.

Alexis smiled. "Maybe a really sexy one." She turned to her friend. "But it's not like you can just bump into a sexy guy- Oh I'm so sorry." Alexis exclaimed as she turned without looking and bumped into someone, spilling her hot coffee on the person.

The person jumped back as the scalding coffee fell on his coat and shirt but he managed to suck in his stomach to avoid it coming into contact with his skin. He said something, probably cursing in another language, and raised his head to look at the offenders.

Alexis and Liz took in a small breath as the young man looked at them. He was Asian, and-_and just amazingly good looking_. Liz recovered first.

"It's not like you can just meet Brad Pitt on the streets." She said and looked around. "Damn!" She said, "Doesn't work for me."

Alexis was mortified. Not only had she spilled really hot coffee on the poor guy, her friend was making jokes as he tried to avoid burns.

"I'm really, really sorry." She said as she moved closer to the boy. To her relief, the boy smiled.

"It's all right." He said.

Liz nudged Alexis and whispered, "Even his voice is sexy."

Alexis pushed her friend back as she put her hand on the guy's shoulder and bent down to observe the damage.

"Are you all right? I hope you didn't get burned."

Yamamoto grinned to the red headed girl. The girl was so upset that Yamamoto didn't want to upset her any more. He shook his head. "No, I am fine. If you could just point me in the direction of the Plaza Hotel, I would be grateful."

Alexis straightened. She noticed the accent the boy was speaking with. It was obvious he wasn't an American. "Um, it's quite far from here."

Yamamoto took off his coat. He tried to dab his wet shirt with the dry area of his coat while trying to keep it away from his stomach.

Alexis knew expensive material when she saw it. Her father's suits were all top stuff. She cringed as she saw that the boy's suit was definitely top quality. And she had ruined it. She cringed even more when the boy said, "No problem. I will walk and hope my luggage has arrived by the time I reach the hotel."

Alexis was conflicted. She was very guilty of the fact that she had ruined this guy's suit. On the other hand, she was glad that because of that, she was talking to such a _sexy looking_ guy. Now that he had taken his coat off, his shoulders were even more prominent. Even the women passing them slowed down and looked over their shoulders. She was wondering what to do when Liz came to her rescue.

"You could come with us." She said. Both Alexis and Yamamoto looked at her in surprise. She shrugged. "Alexis lives just around the block. You can come with us and we'll wash and dry your shirt for you."

Alexis brightened up. "Yes, please come with us." She turned to Yamamoto. He tried to refuse.

"I do not want to trouble you."

Alexis made a guilty face. "Please don't say that. I'm already drowning in guilt. We are the ones who have troubled you."

Yamamoto sighed. He never could see girls sad. The red head in front of him was looking so guilty that he gave in.

"Thank you for your help. I accept."

Alexis and Liz both broke into smiles.

"Come with us." The red head said. "My name is Alexis, Alexis Castle. This is my friend Elizabeth Waters." She waved her hand to Liz.

"My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Nice to meet you, Castle-san, Waters-san." He bowed to the girls.

"Please, call me Alexis." Alexis smiled.

"Call me Liz, Elizabeth isn't really my favorite."

Yamamoto nodded and smiled. "Then please call me Takeshi."

Liz looked confused. "Wait, you name is Yamamoto Takeshi, right?"

"Yes."

"We asked you to call us by our first names and you want us to call you with your surname, isn't that kind of rude?" Alexis glared at her friend, trying to shut her up.

Yamamoto laughed. The girls waited for him to stop. Yamamoto shook his head. "No, Liz-san. Yamamoto is my family name. Takeshi is my given name. In Japan, we offer our clan name before our own names."

Both girls nodded in understanding.

"So, you're Japanese?" Alexis asked as they started walking.

"Yes." Yamamoto nodded.

"Are you from Tokyo?" Liz asked.

"No." Yamamoto gave a taciturn reply.

"Is it your first time in New York?" Alexis asked. Yamamoto nodded.

"Here we are." Alexis said as the reached her apartment building.

"It's on the seventh floor." Alexis told Yamamoto. Yamamoto nodded and made his way to the stairs next to the elevator. The girls looked at each other.

"Um I said seventh, in case you confused it with second." Alexis offered.

Yamamoto turned to look at them with a questioning look. "Yes, I understand. Is there a problem?"

Alexis sighed, "No. No problem." She and Liz followed Yamamoto to the stairs.

Alexis noticed that Yamamoto was very fit. By the time they reached the fifth floor, Liz and Alexis were panting slightly but Yamamoto was completely fine. Actually, it felt as if he could go faster but was going slow to stay with the girls. Liz and Alexis pushed their way to Alexis' home. They stood a minute, leaning on the door before Alexis opened the door.

"Please, come in." Alexis invited the boy inside. She wished Gram wasn't home. Yamamoto walked in and took in the apartment.

"It is very nice." He said, smiling.

"Thank you." Alexis said, shutting the door after he came in. He followed her to a sofa. Liz made her way to the fridge. Alexis turned to him and held out her hand.

"Give me your shirt. I'll put it in the machine. It will be done in half an hour."

If Yamamoto found it strange for her to ask him to take off his clothes in the sitting room, he didn't show it. He just smiled and took off his shirt .Both girls almost gasped.

The boy had the body of a hunk. Toned and well defined muscles on his lean body made Alexis want to touch them. She reeled in her mind before it could go into fantasy mode. Yamamoto handed her the shirt and she stammered.

"I-I'll get something from my father's closet for you." She hurried off. Liz looked at her and mouthed 'Oh my God' as she passed her.

Alexis hurried back to find Liz talking to Takeshi. She remembered that she was supposed to bring him a shirt or something. She was about to turn back when she looked at his naked torso again. She bit her lip. It was okay to be a little selfish some times, right?

"Um sorry, Takeshi. It looks like my Father has locked his room." Alex lied as she came back into the sitting room.

Yamamoto took this piece of news with humor. "What is the saying? When it rains, it pours?" He laughed.

"Sorry." Alexis said, already feeling bad about the lie, but she stood her ground.

"So, Takeshi was telling me that he just arrived today." Liz said and sat down on the sofa. Alexis smiled at Yamamoto. "Sorry for ruining your first day here."

Yamamoto waved this aside. He looked around the apartment. It was very artistically decorated. He wondered what the girl's parents did. He realized Liz was asking something.

"So, are you here on business?" she asked.

Yamamoto nodded and grinned. "Kind of. "

"What do you do, Takeshi?" Alexis asked. The boy barely looked an adult.

"I work for my friend, in his family business." Yamamoto tried to avoid lying.

Liz looked at his pants appreciatively. "You must make a killing to afford threads like those."

Yamamoto smiled at the choice of her words. "You can say that." He nodded.

"Say, Takeshi, you are really fit. You didn't even breathe heavily after the seven flights of stairs you climbed." Alexis said as she regarded him with a curious look.

Yamamoto laughed as he watched the girls remember the climb. "I played sports in school. Even after school, I have kept up a little exercise."

Alexis was amazed. The way he said it sounded like he just walked or jogged in the mornings, but she could see that it was more than that. _She _jogged in the mornings and had been out of breath by the fifth landing. Takeshi had climbed too fast for her and she had tried to keep up at the cost of her strength.

"What did you play?" Liz asked, interested.

A new light came into the boy's eyes. "Baseball."

Alexis grinned. "Wow, you must have really loved it, the way you say its name, with a reverence."

Takeshi smiled.

"Why did you give up?" Liz asked. Yamamoto's smile dimmed a little. Then he was smiling wide again. "Ah, I had to make a choice. I could play baseball or I could help my friend, who was just beginning in the family business. I chose my friend."

"That is so sweet." Alexis and Liz Awwwed.

"It was what he would do for me. All of us would do anything for each other." Yamamoto grinned.

"All of you?" Liz asked. "How many are you guys?"

Yamamoto smiled as he thought of all his friends, including the children and even the Varia. "A lot."

"You guys have a strong friendship, huh?" Alexis stated, looking at how the boy's face lighted up as he talked about his friends.

"It's more like a family." Yamamoto laughed, he fiddled with his ring he was wearing on his finger. Alexis looked at it. It was an old fashioned ring. It had a crest on it. Yamamoto watched Alexis looking at his ring. He smiled and informed her that his friend had given him this ring.

"Wow, looks like a really old ring." Alexis looked at it wide eyed. "Must be expensive."

"It belonged to my friend's family patriarch and he gave it to his friends, ten generations ago." Yamamoto said softly.

Alexis was impressed. Yamamoto smiled. "It is priceless."

The ring was a kind of an heirloom. She looked at Yamamoto. "It's a very important ring, then?"

"Yes." Yamamoto looked at his Vongola ring with pride. "It is a symbol that he considers me family. It shows that I am worthy of standing by his side."

Alexis was a bit curious but remained silent.

Yamamoto had been looking around the room as he talked. His eyes fell on a set of Samurai swords on a stand. He moved towards them. As he reached them, he looked at Alexis. "May I?"

"Sure." Alexis nodded. "They are my Dad's."

"Your Dad?" Yamamoto asked. "Is he a swordsman?" He was interested.

Alexis laughed as she thought of her father in a Samurai costume. It wasn't just her imagination. Her father had actually dressed up once.

"No, no. They are just for show." Alexis walked up to him. "I think they are fake. My ex once tried to open them, but it was stuck shut. I guess they are just the sheath and handle."

Yamamoto held the katana in traditional style, to his side. He flicked the guard with his thumb and the sword slid forward. He unsheathed the katana slowly.

"No," he whispered, moving a little distance from the girl. He brought the blade to his eye level. The blade reflected the sun's rays to his eyes. "It is very real." He slid the sheath through the belt he was wearing on his trousers and took the sword in both hands. The sword was a masterpiece. He looked at Alexis who was looking at the sword in shock. Even she had tried to take it out when Ashley had tried. The sword had been stuck. Takeshi had unsheathed it so easily.

"It is a very good sword." Yamamoto said softly as he tightened his grip on the sword. "It must have been very expensive. It is a true master's work." He said, peering down the blade. "The balance is perfect."

"You know swords?" Liz asked in awe. The boy's demeanor had changed ever since he had picked up the sword. He looked a little _dangerous. _She looked at her friend. Yup, Alexis was taken in too. _I guess she likes bad boys too._

"Yeah!" Yamamoto grinned. "My father taught me his sword style."

Liz walked over to the counter and picked up an apple. She looked at Takeshi. He was now standing between her and Alexis. "Let's see how good you are." She threw the apple with great force to Alexis. Takeshi swung the sword at blinding speed but the apple passed him into Alexis' surprised hands.

"Looks like you missed, Takeshi." Liz smirked. She had been on the softball team after all. Yamamoto smiled.

"What the?" Alexis said. The shape of apple in her hands shifted as her hands applied some force to it. It broke into five small pieces. Alexis looked at Takeshi in surprise. Even if the boy had managed to catch the apple in his swing, he couldn't have cut it into more than two pieces. Even Liz was stunned into silence.

It was then that the front door opened.

"I'm telling you Special Agent Lee, it's no problem. I keep a stack of my books signed for occasions like these. We will be in and out in less than a moment." Castle entered with Beckett and a stuttering S.A Lee in tow. He stopped as his eyes fell on Yamamoto.

"Beckett, is it just me or do you also see a half-naked boy with a sword in my apartment?"

* * *

**There you go... Did you guys like it?**

**Liz is just some doesn't have a big role. She's just Alexis' friend. A typical teenage tomboy.**

**Next update... dunno, whenever I write another chapter I guess. But don't worry. I'll finish this. won't leave you guys hanging.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I have been pleasantly surprised by the response I've got for this story. I didn't think many people would be interested in this crossover. I'm glad that readers have liked my attempt at a crime/mystery fic. **

**Thank you all for the reviews.**

**I hope to continue do the characters justice.**

**Review if you like it.**

* * *

Kate watched the sword wielding boy turn towards them. Immediately her hand went to her sidearm. Next to her, S.A Lee took out his weapon too.

"Drop the sword and put your hands on your head." Beckett yelled as she and Lee flanked the boy from two sides. "NOW!"

The boy raised his hands in a sign of surrender but didn't drop the sword. Around this point, Alexis found her voice.

"DAD! Detective Beckett! Stop it. He's a friend." She walked in front of Yamamoto, her hands wide away from her body. Kate didn't lower her weapon and repeated. "Drop the sword."

Yamamoto grinned. "Ah, I can't ma'am, the sword is a very nice piece of work. I can't, in good conscience, damage it like that."

Beckett narrowed her eyes. Yamamoto clarified hastily, "But I will sheathe it slowly and hand it over to Alexis-chan here." Very slowly, Yamamoto reached down and picked up the sheath and followed his words to the letter. After Alexis took the sword from him, Beckett lowered her gun, but didn't holster it.

"Now please, explain." She glanced at Alexis.

Liz cleared her throat. Castle glanced at the girl and smiled. "Hello Liz, how are you?" Liza grinned back.

"Same as always Mr. Castle."

Castle nodded, "Your parents back from their trip?" he asked.

"Yeah, they reached home yesterday." Liz answered.

Becket turned to glance at Castle. "Castle, half naked guy in your apartment. Focus."

"Yes, yes." Castle turned to look at Yamamoto. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house? More importantly, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"I can explain that." Alexis quickly came in front of her father. She explained what had happened to her father. Beckett asked for Identification documents that Yamamoto provided from his pockets. Alexis frowned slightly at Beckett.

"And the reason he's not wearing any shirt is because you locked your bedroom and I wasn't able to get him one of your shirts." She finished by looking at her father pointedly.

"I did?" Castle asked surprised. "I'm pretty sure that I-"

Alexis glared at him.

"Oh right. I did." He shook his shoulders. "I forgot."

He turned to Yamamoto. "You know us artistic types. Absent minded all the time. I'm sorry." He smiled charmingly at the young man.

Yamamoto returned the smile. "Oh please, Castle-san. There is nothing for you to apologize." He held out his hand. "My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am sorry to intrude upon your hospitality like this."

"No problem." Castle returned amicably, shaking his hand. "It is the least I can do." He looked down at the sword that Yamamoto had handed over to his daughter.

"How did you open it?" he asked interested. "I never managed to open it."

Yamamoto rubbed the back of his neck. "Haha… I just tried and it slid open."

Castle held out his hand to Alexis and she gave the sword to her father. Castle gripped the sheath and tried to yank the sword open but it didn't budge.

Yamamoto shook his head, "No, Castle-san. It is an Shinken Katana. It won't open like that."

"Huh?" Castle looked stupidly at the young man.

"You're doing it wrong." He raised his hands in front of his chest and glanced at Beckett and S.A Lee. "May I?"

Beckett nodded and he took the sword from Castle. "The way you were trying, the blade digs into the sheath's inner walls and gets stuck. _This _is how you should do it." Yamamoto used his thumb to easily flick the blade out of its sheath. "This way, it'll come out nice and easy. See?"

"Wow, nice." Castle admired the boy's method. He took the sword from Yamamoto and started trying the method for himself.

"Please be careful. Mr. Castle." Yamamoto grinned. "The sword is very sharp."

Beckett looked the young boy up and down, trying to get a read on him.

"So," she said, "You seem to know your way around swords." She tried to sound more casual than downright suspicious.

"Yeah." Yamamoto turned towards her. "My dad used to practice Kenjutsu when he was young. I thought I'd give it a try as well, so he taught me his style." He informed her without any hesitation.

Alexis looked at her dad, who was acting like a child with a new toy, although, to be fair, her dad _was_ a child with a new toy. He was still trying his new skill with Yamamoto coaching him when S.A Lee's phone rang. He picked it up and talked for a moment. When he hung up, his face held an expression of puzzlement. He moved a little distance away made a few more phone calls.

As he came back to the group, Castle had managed to slide open the Katana successfully by himself, without any mistakes. Alexis was warning him about being careful with the sharp weapon and not horse around with it like he did with his lightsabers. Beckett noticed the FBI agent's thoughtful visage. "Any news?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I don't understand what it means." Lee took a deep breath. "Apparently, a lot of the local muscle of the mob are ending up in hospitals. "

Castle and Beckett looked surprised.

"Which family?" Castle asked. Lee shook his head.

"That's what's confusing me. Every family." He glanced at Beckett and Castle. "Even thugs that aren't from any mob family. The Irish, Chinese gangs." He patted the pocket where he had kept his cell phone. "I just got off the phone with one of my informants. He said he doesn't know what's going on, but things are getting tense in the streets."

"Are they preparing for a war? In retaliation of Vincent Rossi's murder?" Castle asked seriously. Lee and Beckett exchanged dark looks. Lee looked into Castle's eyes. "We better hope not."

Unknown to them, Yamamoto was finding their conversation very interesting. From what he had heard of the conversation and asked Alexis, her father worked with the police for fun. More importantly, they were the ones investigating Carlo-kun's death.

_Do they know about Vongola?, _he wondered. _I guess I should try to start working as well._

He realized that Liz was saying something.

"Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something." He smiled apologetically.

Liz grinned as well. "I said, there is going to be a game tomorrow. You like baseball right? I was asking if you'd like to come. My dad has really good season tickets."

Yamamoto smiled apologetically. "I can't commit to it, I'm afraid." He said kindly, "I must attend to my business. But if I do find myself free, I will be delighted to."

Liz nodded. " I understand. Work before play."

"You work?" Castle asked, surprised. "You look barely twenty. How old are you?"

Yamamoto smiled. "I am twenty, Castle-san. I work for my friend in his family business."

"Isn't it cool, Dad?" Alexis asked. "He's only two years older and is already working." She turned to Yamamoto. "I still have four years of college before I go into the real world."

"Yeah, you're lucky you missed that." Liz joked.

Yamamoto shook his head. "I have to study too, Liz-san." He smiled. "My friend has a tutor who forces all of us to study alongside our work."

"You study _and_ work?" Liz asked in awe. "Wow!"

"I don't get good marks, though." Takeshi smiled. "Me and my friend tie at the bottom. Another friend of mine," Yamamoto thought of Gokudera, "aces them so easily, though."

"Well, you try right?" Alexis grinned. "Then it's all right."

"Yeah, I never got good marks at school either." Castle waved his hands.

A soft tone began coming from Yamamoto's pant pockets and everybody looked at the boy who smiled and pulled out a slim phone.

"Ah, excuse me, I must take this."

"Sure." Castle gestured towards the kitchen, so that the boy could have some privacy. Beckett watched the boy closely even from a distance.

"Relax, Beckett." Castle tried to calm the policewoman down.

"I don't like the vibes I'm getting from him." She said. "It's bothering me."

"Hot guy vibes?" Liz said, biting into an apple, as the two turned to her. "I'm getting pretty hot because of them too."

"Liz." Alexis swatted the girl's shoulder in mock reprimand.

"I'm serious, Alexis." Kate turned to the red headed girl. "It's in the way he carries himself. Also the way he reacted when I drew my gun at him."

"What reaction?" Liz asked, making a face. "He didn't react."

"Exactly, Liz." The detective turned to the other girl. "How many people do you know that would not react with two guns pointing at their faces?"

Castle raised an eyebrow. That was true. It was pretty scary to have guns pointed at you, he could attest to it from past experiences.

Beckett continued. "Instead of being scared, he was actually able to talk back." Kate looked towards the kitchen again, where the boy was talking on the phone. "I've known people to pull their grandmothers before them as shields when faced with a gun."

"Bet that got them struck of their grandma's will." Castle joked, but quickly looked away as Kate glared at him.

"I'm serious here, Castle." Beckett turned to look at Yamamoto.

"Come on, Detective Beckett." Alexis defended the boy, "Maybe he doesn't realize how dangerous the gun is. I mean, we live in New York and read about murders and muggings every day. Japan doesn't have that much gun violence on the streets. Maybe that's why."

Whatever Kate wanted to say, she couldn't as Yamamoto returned to the group.

"Ah. It seems I am required for work." He smiled.

"Your shirt will take a few more minutes. A couple of minutes more to iron it." Alexis suddenly felt guilty. She was keeping the boy from his job just for her teenage hormones.

"It is a little urgent, so I have asked a friend to drop by with some clothes here. I hope you don't mind." Yamamoto scratched the back of his head.

"Oh no problem." Rick waved an arm, ever the gracious host. "In fact you're always welcome here while you are in town. I'd love to have your help with a few other things. Like my Samurai suit."

"Haha.." Yamamoto felt that he liked Castle-san.

"I know, I'll get another one. We can dress up and have a mock battle to the death." Castle entered a loose stance like Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai.

"That sounds like fun." Takeshi nodded. It really did. Besides, he would like to know what the police managed to find out. Castle-san sounded like he liked to talk.

"It will be." Rick was totally excited.

"I thought you wanted to solve this murder, Castle." Kate didn't really approve of the boy returning here.

"Well, I'll never find anyone willing to dress up as a samurai with me." Castle whined, pleadingly.

"Don't forget the mock battle to the death, Castle-san." Yamamoto reminded.

"Yeah, that too." Castle turned to look at Beckett with large eyes. Kate's eye twitched as Rick tried his best puppy dog face. "Please."

"You don't need my permission, Castle." She turned away, before she _did_ give her permission.

"Aw, come on." Castle pleaded as he moved in front of Kate again. "We'll be careful."

"Fine." Kate sighed, defeated.

"Thank you, Detective. Do not be worried for Castle-san." Yamamoto bowed slightly. "I shall take utmost care not to hurt Castle-san for you."

"I don't really care either way." Beckett turned towards the door, suddenly feeling like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Now we should get back to the precinct."

"Oh, right." Castle quickly went into his study and came out with a book. "I almost forgot. Here you go S.A Lee."

"Thank you Mr. Castle. My wife would love this."

"Always happy to oblige." Rick and S.A Lee followed Kate to the door. Castle turned and waved to Yamamoto. "Remember Takeshi, You're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you Castle-san." Yamamoto bowed.

Once Castle and co. left, Liz roped Yamamoto into a conversation about sword fighting. The boy knew a lot and it was fascinating to both girls. Around ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Alexis got up.

She walked to the door and opened it. A short girl stood outside with a package in her hand. Even at first glance, Alexis knew she wasn't some random person. She had a really eye-catching hairstyle. Even more distinguishing than her ponytail was the eye-patch on one of her eyes, decorated with a skull. She also held a small slip of paper in her hand and Alexis could make out their address on it, upside down.

"Um, is Yamamoto-kun here?" the girl asked in a soft voice.

Alexis was a bit taken aback by the girls appearance, but she nodded. "Um, yeah. Come on in."

"Thank you." The girl bowed and entered the apartment.

"Right this way." Alexis led the girl to the sitting area where Yamamoto was.

"Um, Takeshi, I think your clothes are here."

Yamamoto looked up and grinned. "Ah, Chrome-chan."

"Yamamoto-kun." The girl smiled. "I brought your clothes."

"Ah, arigato." Yamamoto stood up to receive the package. He turned to the girls and introduced the newcomer. "This is my friend, Chrome-chan. Chrome-chan, these are my new friends that I met today. Alexis-chan and Liz-chan."

"Hello." Alexis smiled.

"Hey!" Liz raised an arm.

"Um, nice to meet you." Chrome bowed. The girls watched as Chrome opened the package and brought out a white shirt. She held it as Yamamoto slipped his arms into it. It looked like the girl and Yamamoto were really close.

"So," Liz asked bluntly. "Are you his girlfriend?" It was better if they knew right away. After her recent break up, Alexis didn't need to be led along by Takeshi, even unknowingly.

Chrome reddened as Yamamoto guffawed.

"N-no." Chrome stammered.

"Hibari-san would kill me if I made a move on Chrome-chan here." Yamamoto patted the girl's hair affectionately. It was clear that Yamamoto cared for the girl, but maybe not in a romantic way. "I don't think even Tsuna will be able to stop him in that case."

"Boss won't let you get hurt." Chrome shook her head.

"Is this Hibari guy your boyfriend?" Liz asked the girl.

Once again, Chrome reddened, but this time the color went deeper. "I-I…. it's not like that.. He… I.."

"Ah, say no more." Alexis smiled. "It seems boy trouble is the same everywhere in the world."

"Hahaha…" Yamamoto laughed good naturedly.

"You can go change inside." Alexis pointed to a door.

"Thank you. I shall go and do that." Takeshi picked up the pants from the package and moved to go get changed. He smiled to himself as he heard Liz prod Chrome for information on her love life. This trip might not be so boring after all.

* * *

_Ding._

The elevator opened.

"All I'm saying Castle, is that you shouldn't be so trusting of every one you meet." Beckett walked out, closely followed by Castle.

"And you shouldn't be suspicious of everyone _you_ meet." Castle looked at his muse.

"I'm a cop, Castle, being suspicious is in my Job description." Beckett nodded to Esposito who waved a file at her. "What did you find out Espo?"

"While you guys were out, Agent Vicco and I looked into recent files on the Rossi family. Ryan's out talking to the Hotel staff, following up on the key card angle."

"Anything interesting?" Castle plopped down into the chair next to Kate's desk.

"Define interesting." Esposito opened the file and put it on Beckett's desk. Beckett sat down in her chair and Lee stood next to Esposito. "These here are a few eye catching points that the FBI have from the things their snitches on the streets picked up." He looked at Beckett. "The Rossi family was slowly getting _out_ of the drug game. Interesting enough for you?"

"Why?" Castle looked puzzled.

"Drugs are the best money making business in the organized crime, but for the past year, the Rossi have slowly washing their hands off it." Vicco's soft voice pulled their attention. "Which is strange, because there have been no major crackdown on them for drugs related crimes. There are no reports of them having a fallout with any of the major Cartels that supply drugs in this part of the country. Sad as it is to say I'm afraid, but it is a very good time to be in the drug business for the families. The Rossi is losing out on millions because of this."

"And, they are even going as far as to stop _anyone_ dealing drugs in their part of the town. Allegedly that's what is causing friction between the Rossi and Maleno." Esposito looked grimly at Vicco.

"Why would they do that?" Castle asked no one in particular. "It's illogical."

"Do we have anything to relate the Maleno to the murder?" Beckett asked Vicco.

"I checked into their known financials and I can't find any large transactions to point to a payment for the hit."

"If they did order the hit, it would have no paper trails." Lee shook his head. "It would have been doneion cash or Offshore wire transfers."

"Doesn't the FBI have a list of suspected Mob accounts?" Beckett looked at Lee, raising an eyebrow.

"We do, but we can't be sure which account belongs to which Family." Lee sat down on the desk. "And they can't be submittedin court as evidence."

"We're also missing an important part of this." Castle stood up and moved to the murder board. He tapped the photograph of the Italian man. "Who is he? Why was he there? Maybe all of this has nothing to do with the Mob at all."

"What do you think Castle?" Beckett also looked at the photograph.

"Maybe this man was the actual target. We know for sure that he has been shot before, what's to say this time wasn't about him. Vincent Rossi might be an innocent," Castle raised an eyebrow as he looked back at the team, "relatively at least, bystander."

Castle glanced back at the murder board, looking at the cocky grin on Vincent Rossi's face in the photograph.

"But do you remember what Benito Rossi said back at his house?" Beckett shook her head and stood up. She twirled her pen in her hands before pointing it at the Foreigner's photo. "Whoever this man is, or represents, according to Rossi, no one will dare to go after him."

"Maybe no one here in New York." Vicco spoke from his chair. "Something I've learned from my days in the Interpol is that there is always bigger fish in the sea."

Everyone looked at the senior agent. Vicco's face was still expressionless as he gazed at the photograph. "This man is a foreigner and supposedly a powerful man. What better place to kill someone like him than outside his home ground, so to speak."

"So you think someone who knew he was coming here had him killed?" Esposito chewed his pen.

"Let's not forget that the killer had swiped the key to the suite long before the man even landed in America." Lee reminded everyone.

"This doesn't make sense." Becket frowned. "Even Rossi had no idea who was coming, or even how many people were coming. How did our killer?"

Lee sighed. "It all comes back to the Rossi and their mysterious actions."

The bull pen went quiet as everyone tried to think up something that would explain the happenings in the Rossi family.

Beckett went back to her seat and picked up her jacket. "I think it's time we paid the Maleno a visit."

* * *

**I took a bit of creative licence (read BullShitting) with the thing with the sword. So now that Yamamoto has an in with the Castle's, he'll be back to sniff around some more.**

**In the next chapter, you can also look forward to Vongola finally coming into the limelight. Hibari-san also makes an appearance.**

**Till then, Ja ne. **


End file.
